Furniture - American - early (to 1760)

Jacobean Furniture (1600 - 1700)

American Jacobean chairs The first furniture made in North America was modelled on the English furniture brought by the early settlers. The furniture was simple and straightforward but well proportioned and often had a great deal of flat carved decoration. The most commonly used wood was oak but pine and maple were also used.

The most popular tables were gateleg tables which gave rise to a uniquely American version, the butterfly table, in which the drop-leaf supports resemble the shape of butterfly wings.

Chairs included wooden armchairs, called Carver and Brewster chairs, after the Pilgrim Fathers who had brought chairs of that type with them to America.

Late in the 17th century, the "stand", a small, plain rectangular or round bedside or fireside table, developed.
 

William & Mary Furniture (1700 - 1715)

  Americn William & Mary gateleg tableWhen William and Mary furniture reached America, it quickly became fashionable with inlay and lacquer decoration replacing carving. Writing desks were often made using a variety of woods for differing effects on each part of the desk. 

 The William and Mary chest of drawers on a stand was adapted to become the highboy (with the drawers raised so that they could be opened without bending down) and the lowboy, a dressing table with drawers. These were usually made of walnut or walnut veneer (often burled).

 

 

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Furniture - English - Pre-Victorian (to 1830)

Furniture - English - Tudor (1485 - 1602)

The increasing wealth in Europe following the Renaissance (from 1450) and exploration of the New World was reflected in the furniture in English homes from the reign of Henry V111. Prior to that time, furniture consisted of simple wooden benches, boxes of various sizes used as chairs, tables and even beds, and rarely chairs or beds.

During the Tudor period, joinery replaced simple plank construction and ornate carving proliferated.

The Tudors invented the four-poster bed, the trestle table, the draw table (or refectory table), the Glastonbury chair (a folding chair with arms) and the wainscot chair (an armchair on a box). The emphasis on folding furniture came from the fact that the living quarters were also the workplace with the furniture being pushed aside, or folded up, to make space for carrying on a trade.

All Tudor furniture was oak.

The use of inlay spread with the arrival of German craftsmen in England in the 1580s.

 

Furniture - English - Jacobean (1602 - 1625)
By the Jacobean period, people could afford some comfort, carpets, cushions and, later, upholstered furniture, became available. The most common chairs were "farthingale" chairs -  these have a gap between the padded back and seat to accommodate the hooped whalebone petticoats, called farthingales, which were fashionable for women.

Jacobean refectory tables were lighter but longer (with up to eight legs) than Tudor tables.

Jacobean furniture was mostly oak, but yew and elm were also used.

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